HtH135 – The Quiet Hour
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Preparing dinner for The Fantastic Festival of Festivities!
Meanwhile, back at the house...
Soft music pipes out of the back room that looks out at the garden. A recorder is playing piano music with a light touch. Jules basks in the mid-afternoon sun, a moment of lull after lunch service and before dinner. In this moment of quiet, she eases herself into a soft armchair, a frayed old book in her lap titled "Bitsborough Stories Vol. 5". She wasn't reading it, it was just something that she found on the dinner table while cleaning up, so she held onto it.
Oddly enough, it gave her some small comfort too.
The theatre house has been a flurry of activity for some time now. The girls were preparing for some event that was happening in the basement. The girls each had their role to play for that event; Hikari had sequestered herself inside a dance training room; Minara was seen around the house polishing a palm-sized ball with a handkerchief while giggling darkly to herself; earlier this morning, Piaccta and Mistrál had come running back from Bitsborough, little boxes of clothing tucked under their elbows.
At this moment, nothing was being asked of the girl.
This is her quiet hour.
She could just be.
So she sidles a little further into her armchair.
"Heeeeeeey, Chef, do you have a moment??"
The high-pitched voice that popped up diagonally from behind her armchair can only be House. Clutching the back of the armchair, she swings her body back and forth, coyly answering her own question.
"You know, hypothetically, and I am saying hypothetically, if you had to make fifty boxed lunches how would you go about doing it?"
Jules stills for a moment--- the thoughtful look on her face bathing in the afternoon golds, looking like she is tasting the question before answering.
It had been a very, very long time since she last cooked lunch for such a large host. Not that she couldn't do it, of course. It was just that the house mostly saw quiet days. Reading Days were the busiest. She would always take the effort to make extra portions of cake for guests, and any leftovers would disappear slowly from the fridge over the weekend.
Still, fifty portions is no small feat!
Alone, that is in the realm of professional cooking!
Setting down the little collection of stories on a side-table, she folds her hands, a small considering smile on her face. "I think... that if I had to prepare fifty cooked lunches, I would consider a couple of things. Consistency is one, you would want each boxed lunch to be made with the same kind of care, the kind of care that a customer would notice if the rice was warm and the egg was cut evenly."
House nods her head, her interest piqued! "So it is possible!"
"Well," Jules continues with signature calm, "I think so, but not in the way you imagine. I wouldn't do it alone. I'd need a kitchen big enough, a plan detailed enough, and people I trusted to help—"
"Steaks and fries are outta the question, right?"
"Goodness, no!" Jules laughs with good humor, "Even if everyone was seated, the fries would cool far too quickly in the box. There's also the issue of serving fifty portions of steak at different rarities at the same time... It would be quite the insurmountable task—"
Just because it is possible, doesn't mean it should be done.
The girl's mind goes back to a time when she believed otherwise.
These days, the house doesn't ask much of her. The most complex dish might be occasional light snack cravings from Minara and Mistrál she had to come up on the fly. Otherwise, the house kept a clean and well-managed schedule.
"Ogey, ogey! No steak!" House nods, a 'v' shape formed by her fingers under her chin. "Since Chef is Chef, I betcha you are all about 'elevating' food, right? How do we do that with cheap soba noodles?"
Cheap soba noodles.
Not an ingredient usually used in the house.
Jules taps the counter thoughtfully, already tasting the soba.
"I wouldn't make it fancy. I would make it reliable—and then add one or two small touches that make people pause."
Jules draws up the image of the ideal soba dish for her companion at the armrest. The soba noodles, cooked just shy of being done. A rinsing touch of cold water to stop them from cooking, then tossed with sesame oil to prevent sticking. For the toppings, rolled cut into thin ribbons; cheap, beautiful, luxurious. Then, for the vegs, you can't go wrong with cucumber and pickled carrot slices. A little bit of welcome brightness and crunch to the dish! Then, a scattering of green onion, sliced thin. Finally, to top off the dish, nice, wobbly, golden fried tofu, marinated in soy and a little sugar. It will taste well with the soy-dashi sauce used for the noodles themselves!
"Pickled carrots, Jules? Wouldn't the pickling take days?" House tilts her head, her red beret almost falling off her head.
Jules gives a bright, reassuring laugh, "Not all pickles take days! There's a whole world of 'quick pickles' here, and pickling carrots might take from thirty minutes to an hour. They don't need fermentation, canning, or days of waiting. Just vinegar, salt, a little sugar, and heat."
"Then it's settled! We're doing this! You see... the truth of the matter is this! We're planning on doing a packed meal for the guests of our special event!"
Somehow, Jules had had already anticipated this. The girl had leaned so heavily into this with her questions, that it was sort of expected! Like she had so patiently answered before, with enough preparation, even a large lunch service could be turned into a simple, mess-free affair. She doesn't mind the extra work, it was just that it would have been better with some help—
"Non, non, you got it all wrong! We're doing the event... tonight!"
There is no Los Pollos Hermanos-sized panic.
Unless you were looking for it with bright red prankster eyes, one would barely have registered the crack in Jule's calm exterior — just a little.
Then, a breath.
Under that breath, rapid recalculation.
How long had they already been here?
Factoring everything in, it was a difficult request.
Still, it is absolutely doable.
"Alright. Let's get this done. First, we will need a list of ingredients—"
"Shopping's already done!"
"Done?"
"Yep!" House is practically bouncing up and down on the spot now, checking messages on her red flipphone, "I would have thought you would have said fresh carrots, but if you say 'pickled', we can go with that! Hikari and Minara are already coming back from the market... right now!"
A small whistle goes off from the side of Jule's mouth.
Having the ingredients bought and accounted for took a large deal of stress out of the cooking.
Still...
This girl...
Had she been expecting this from the very beginning?
"I'll get Piaccta to help me out with the cooking for tonight---"
"Piaccta?! But Piaccta is busy! Instead, you get to cook with..."
With dramatic flourish, a dark cooking apron with cat print is produced!
"... moi!"
—-
The Fantastic Festival of Festivities is about to begin!
—-
We are trying something different! This is a simul-posting at the same time as the Scribblehub release! Go check out the entire series at this link!
